His Excellency the Rt. Hon. Sir Anerood Jugnauth, Prime Minister of the Republic of Mauritius, accompanied by his wife Lady Sarojini Jugnauth, paid a State visit to India from 15 January to 24 January 2001.

During the visit, the Prime Minister of Mauritius was accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapathi Bhavan on 16 January. He called on the President of the Republic of India Shri K.R.. Narayanan. He visited Rajghat to pay homage to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi. The Mauritian dignitary called on the Prime Minister of India, Sri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and held detailed discussions on matters of mutual interest and also on bilateral, regional and International issues. The Prime Minister of India also hosted a banquet in honour of Sir Anerood Jugnauth and Lady Jugnauth.

The visit of Prime Minister of Mauritius and his delegation was in keeping with the spirit of the long-standing special relations that exist between India and Mauritius.

The Prime Minister of Mauritius held meetings with the Minister of Defence Shri George Fernandes, the Minister of Information Technology Shri Pramod Mahajan and the Minister of State for External Affairs Shri Ajit Kumar Panja.

The Prime Minister of India and the Prime Minister of Mauritius reaffirmed the vision for a closer and stronger relationship between the two countries and stressed that the traditional and historical bonds between India and Mauritius should be further strengthened in order to meet the challenges of the new millennium.

The two Prime Ministers have also agreed that there is need to strengthen the IOR-ARC, of which both Mauritius and India are members in order to promote further the development and economic integration of the countries of Indian Ocean.

During the discussions the two Prime Ministers reiterated that Indo-Mauritian relations were characterized by the deep and abiding bonds based on common kinship, culture and a shared civilizational heritage.

The two Prime Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to democracy and secularism and emphasized on the importance of harmonious coexistence in multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-lingual societies, and stressed on the concept of unity in diversity.

The two Prime Ministers recognized the tremendous potential for Indo-Mauritian cooperation for tapping the vast opportunities in the field of IT, particularly with regard to prospects that exist in French speaking countries as well as in countries within the COMESA and SADC. Accordingly the two Prime Ministers agreed that India and Mauritius enter into a strategic partnership so as to develop the IT Infrastructure and training facilities in Mauritius. One of the priorities would be the construction of the first Cybercity of Mauritius. It was agreed that a feasibility study will be undertaken as a first step. 

The two Prime Ministers agreed on the importance of making operational the Mauritius University of Technology as soon as possible and on affiliating it to a corresponding Indian institution which would facilitate curriculum development and the exchange of resource persons. 

The two Prime Ministers discussed the issues of cooperation in the fields of science and ocean development. The Prime Minister of India reiterated that India would assist Mauritius in every way to establish its claim to the U.N. Commission on the legal continental shelf for an extension of the outer limits of the Mauritian continental shelf. The Indian Government has agreed to depute a highly qualified scientist to head the Mauritius Oceanography Institute.

The two Prime Ministers recognized the immense potential for Indian companies to exploit the Textile and Garments Industry in Mauritius and to set up joint ventures in Mauritius for the manufacturing of yarn and fabrics which would facilitate access to major third-country markets.

In the field of air transport, the Mauritian Prime Minister has made a request for Co-Terminal Rights to be given to Air Mauritius/Air India to enable them to operate their flights through Mumbai, Delhi or Chennai without intra India landing rights. The Indian side agreed to examine this request. 

The two Prime Ministers agreed to expand cooperation in the Health sector; India would explore the possibility of providing more facilities to Mauritian students in the pursuit of Medical Education.

The two Prime Ministers reiterated their strong commitment to expanding cooperation in the Financial Sector and agreed on the relevance of existing instruments to strengthen this cooperation.

The Prime Minister of Mauritius outlined his country's plans to introduce IT education from pre-primary to tertiary levels. He also requested for Indian assistance in building the first cybercity in Mauritius. He. said both these projects could be implemented with a line of credit of US $100 million from the Government of India to fund the supply from India of computer equipment, software, resource persons and related his fresh infrastructural equipment. India agreed to consider positively this fresh line of credit to Mauritius on terms and conditions as per previous credit. arrangements and subject to modalities being jointly agreed for the 
projects to be implemented under the credit.

The two Prime Ministers expressed their conviction that tension in the region  should be resolved by peaceful means and they reaffirmed their commitment to promote peace and stability in the region, The Mauritian Prime Minister expressed appreciation of India's support for the election of Mauritius to a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council. The Mauritian Prime Minister reiterated the strong support for India's claim for a permanent seat on a reformed Security Council, India being the largest democracy in the world. 

The two Prime Ministers called on the international community to intensify its efforts to combat international terrorism, fundamentalism and drug trafficking and agreed to reinforce bilateral cooperation in this area.

The two Prime Ministers called for the restoration of democracy in Fiji and reiterated. their belief in the resolution of the ethnic problem through democratic measures.

Finally, the two Prime Ministers stressed on the goodwill that exist between the peoples of India and Mauritius and were confident that the State Visit of Sir Anerood Jugnauth would further give a tremendous boost to Indo-Mauritian relations